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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27375328">when you fall like a statue, I’m gon’ be there to catch you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyGenius/pseuds/BabyGenius'>BabyGenius</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5 +1, 5 Times, 5 Times Julie Saves Her Boys +1 Time They Save Her, Alex Has Anxiety (Julie and The Phantoms), Dyslexia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Luke Patterson Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Luke Patterson Has Autism (Julie and the Phantoms), Panic Attacks, Reggie Has Dyslexia (Julie and the Phantoms), Sensory Overload, Trans Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 12:07:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,316</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27375328</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyGenius/pseuds/BabyGenius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Saving people came from the little things, really. From pulling them back from the ledge, from comforting them through the bad times, from making sure they knew there was someone warm and safe, waiting for them after they’d had a bad day. </p><p>Julie saved them a lot, if you think about it. They could only hope to be able to do the same for her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex &amp; Julie Molina, Alex &amp; Julie Molina &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie, Julie Molina &amp; Luke Patterson, Julie Molina &amp; Reggie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>371</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. if you get lost, you can always be found, just know you’re not alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Basically what the tags say, this is a fic for 5 Times Julie Saves Her Boys +1 Time They Save Her. I hope you all enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They reappeared at the studio, each of them falling to the ground when a stroke of fire tore through them before they could gain their balance. Luke’s hands flopped a bit, searching for the hands of the others. He grasped onto Alex’s hand tightly, holding onto Reggie just as tightly with his other hand. <br/>“I’m—If I’m going to die again, at least—least ‘s with you guys.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m back peeps. Alright, so, first thing’s first. I will have a regular updating schedule for this. Until I finish it, it will be once a week, but I have 3.5/6 chapters finished already, so once I finish it completely then I’ll update every day or two. </p><p>Second thing, I have opened up requests! Send me an ask on my tumblrs, either blerghfish (my main) or julie-and-the-phat-ones (my JatP side blog). I’m not only writing for JatP, and there’s a list of rules and fandoms I’ll write for pinned on both of those accounts, so go check it out!</p><p>Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this. I’m using a few personal headcanons of mine (autistic and adhd Luke, mainly—I made a post about it on tumblr), but it works. </p><p>Happy Reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The jolts were stronger than they had been before. The Orpheum wasn’t their unfinished business, and while that sucked, there wasn’t much they could do about it now. It had been a swift, chilling realization that they weren’t crossing over at the end of the performance, and it only took a brief meeting of the eyes to decide to <em>poof</em> out.</p><p>They reappeared at the studio, each of them falling to the ground when a stroke of fire tore through them before they could gain their balance. Luke’s hands flopped a bit, searching for the hands of the others. He grasped onto Alex’s hand tightly, holding onto Reggie just as tightly with his other hand.</p><p>“I’m—” He gasped and bent in half when a jolt made his world go white, stealing his non-existent breath. He came back with a choking gasp that did nothing, coughing for a second before continuing stubbornly. “If I’m going to die again, at least—least ‘s with you guys.”</p><p>Reggie laughed on a sob. “Me too, dude, me too.”</p><p>“‘M sorry,” Alex choked out. He squeezed at his friends hands, closing his eyes tightly.</p><p>“‘S not your fault!” Luke growled, trying to nudge Alex with his leg, but he couldn’t really feel them, so he gave up on that thought pretty quickly.</p><p>“Yeah, you—couldn’t’ve known,” Reggie choked out.</p><p>They laid there in silence, the jolts coming and going, out of sync unlike before. Luke couldn’t help but wish he could move, so that he could at least leave a note for Julie. Something for her to remember them by so she didn’t forget them.</p><p>But that was something he shouldn’t think about, since he could barely move his upper body anymore. Half-formed lyrics came and went in his mind, wishes forming and breaking.</p><p>
  <em>Hey, you </em>
</p><p>Did you know you hold my heart</p><p>My hopes, my dreams</p><p>And you have from the start</p><p> </p><p>If only I could tell you</p><p>Tell you that you</p><p>Bring me to life</p><p>Steal my breath and soul</p><p>Start my heart beatin’ all over again</p><p> </p><p>Wish I could just tell you</p><p>Wish I could hold you</p><p>Tender touches and hugs</p><p>Whispered words and half-formed dreams</p><p>So you don’t forget about me</p><p> </p><p>He was pulled out of his head with a gasp and a cry as the fire spread through his body, burning from his wrist and raging through his body with reckless abandon. At least Julie would think they had crossed over. A small consolation, but a consolation just the same.</p><p>“I’m sorry you never got to do anything with Willie,” Reggie forced out, sniffling.</p><p>“It’s—‘s fine. Not like there was—” Alex broke off with a grimace, and didn’t bother trying to finish what he had been saying.</p><p>They all went silent when they heard a car pull up from far away, the doors slamming closed and the Molina family singing the tune of “Stand Tall” with smiles in their voices. Luke allowed himself a sad smile, trying to pull the boys closer to him as one of the jolts struck, this one lasting longer than the ones before had.</p><p>It left them frozen on the floor, chests heaving uselessly as they tried to ground themselves. Luke noticed with a panic that he couldn’t touch Reggie, the boy having flickered. When Luke could touch him again, he grabbed onto his hand even tighter, refusing to let go.</p><p>They all froze, though, when they heard near-silent footsteps getting closer from outside.</p><p><em>Why is she coming in here? Oh god no, don’t let her come in here</em>, Luke thought, pleading with something he didn’t used to believe in that she would change her mind and go to bed.</p><p>Like always, though, it seemed his prayers went unanswered. The doors swung open timidly as Julie stepped in, looking around. Luke could only see her outline from the lights coming from the house and the moonlight, but it was enough, causing his breath to catch as he gazed at her. If she was the last thing he saw, he would be okay with that.</p><p>He watched as Julie cast her eyes at the ceiling, something he knew she did when she talked to her mom. Luke realized she would probably do it for them now too, and that broke his heart even more, because he wouldn’t be up there, would he? He would be nowhere, destroyed and gone, a distant memory as she grew old.</p><p>Julie took a shuddering breath before speaking. “I—I know I already said this, but uh—thank you guys.”</p><p>There was a brief moment of silence, and for a second, just a small second, Luke thought she would turn around and go back inside, content with the idea that they had simply crossed over.</p><p>The silence was broken, though, by Reggie’s moaned, “You’re welcome.”</p><p>Alex let out an exasperated sigh.</p><p>“<em>Dude</em>,” Luke groaned. Now they’d never get away with it.</p><p>Julie hurried to turn on the lights, her eyes widening when she saw them on the ground. She walked back over in front of them, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Luke groaned and Reggie coughed weakly, his body barely moving from lack of strength even as Julie walked closer.</p><p>“Wh—why are you here? I—I thought—”</p><p>Pulses of blue light flashed through the air, each of them crying out in pain as a jolt sliced through them. Luke wished she didn’t have to see them like this, wished she had just gone to bed like he and Reggie had argued she would. At least he wouldn’t have to hear Alex’s “I told you so”. Luke fell back to the floor, his body shuddering weakly.</p><p>“I—I thought you crossed over—why didn’t you cross over?”</p><p>Alex pulled himself up using one of the amps near him. “I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t,” he sniffled, “our unfinished business.”</p><p>Reggie’s face was red and snotty as he sagged against the arm of one of the chairs. “Point Caleb.”</p><p>Luke struggled to pull himself up into a seated position, Reggie helping him until he had his knees close to his chest and his arms draped over them. “We wanted you to think we crossed over, so we pretended to. We just…” Luke looked down, shaking his head with regret. “We had nowhere else to go.” He heaved in a shuddering breath, though it didn’t do much, looking up at Julie with watery red eyes pleading with her to understand.</p><p>Reggie motioned his hand half-heartedly, adding on, “We thought you would go straight to bed.”</p><p>Alex scoffed, forcing himself up a little straighter—or, well…taller—and managing to say, “Yeah, well,” he paused for a second, trying to ground himself, “I knew she was gonna come out here, but nobody ever listens to—” He was cut of with a cry, almost falling back to the floor as Luke groaned and Reggie sobbed. This one was stronger, somehow, and Luke felt himself momentarily slip through the floor when he lost all sense of tangibility, of being <em>there</em>. He managed to catch himself, though, holding onto his stomach as if that would somehow <em>help</em>.</p><p>They were all left gasping on the floor, coughing as Julie’s eyes watered. She rushed over to them, her hands motioning frantically. “You have to save yourselves right now. Go join Caleb’s club <em>please</em>. It’s better than not existing at all.” She turned away, her chest heaving with sobs and her voice breaking. “Please just go, go, poof out do something!” She turned back to them, her hands folding as if she were going to hug herself as she pleaded with them. “<em>Please</em>, do it for me, <em>please</em>.”</p><p>Reggie looked down, his eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head vehemently. “We’re not going back there,” he protested, his chest heaving.</p><p>Luke stood up, walking shakily over to Julie as he begged her to understand why they were doing this. “No music is worth making, Julie, if we’re not making it with you.” He drew closer until he was only a few inches away from her, gazing into her eyes and the wet shimmer they had. “No regrets,” he swore, taking in a weak, shaky mock of a breath.</p><p>She surged forward desperately, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug. He embraced her back, tucking his head into the crook between her neck and shoulder as he squeezed her.</p><p>“I love you guys,” Julie sobbed, squeezing him tighter even as she struggled to stay on her toes. Her eyes widened, though, when she realized what she was doing. As she let go reluctantly, a soft warmth began to emanate from him.</p><p>Julie looked at him in bewilderment, noticing a healthy, warm glow illuminating Luke’s skin. He looked down at his arms in confusion.</p><p>“H—how can I feel you?” Julie asked shakily, looking at the other boys who seemed just as in the dark as she was.</p><p>Luke shook his head, his eyebrows drawn together as he looked back up at her. “I—I d—I don’t know.” He put his hands up to cradle Julie’s face, her own hands doing the same to his as he stroked his thumb up and down her cheek lovingly. He could <em>touch</em> her. He wasn’t passing through her anymore!</p><p>Luke and Julie grasped hands as he looked back at the boys, “I feel stronger.” He looked back at Julie, an awed expression lighting up his already glowing features.</p><p>Julie’s eyes widened as she was struck with an idea, casting her eyes to Alex and Reggie, who were still hovering weakly. “Alex, Reggie, come here.”</p><p>They walked over slowly, Reggie staggering a bit before he managed to wrap his arms around them in a firm hug, thinking they would disappear if he let go.</p><p>The effects were more immediate this time, as Alex and Reggie almost immediately began to glow. They pulled out of the hug hesitantly, watching the glow rise into the air. The boys’ wrists began to burn, though, and they looked down with muted gasps of pain as the stamps—brands—that had almost destroyed them rose off their skin and into the air, dissipating in a poof of fairytale sparkles.</p><p>Luke’s ears buzzed with relief as he focused back on Julie. The band pulled each other into another firm hug, still high on the relief and pain they had felt just moments before. It felt like if they ever let go they would all disappear.</p><p>Julie laughed happily. “We played the Orpheum!” They bounced around in a circle, only breaking apart when they heard the doors begin to open.</p><p>Ray poked his head in. “You okay, <em>mija</em>?”</p><p>Julie nodded her head earnestly. “<em>Sí, papi</em>. I’m fine!”</p><p>Ray nodded, looking around the studio. His eyes rested on the boys and they held their breaths, but the only sign that Ray noticed anything was a confused furrow of his brows before he shook his head and focused back on his daughter. “Alright, well, it is time for bed. You’ve had an exciting night.”</p><p>Julie laughed somewhat hysterically. “Yeah, you have no idea. I’ll be in in a minute.”</p><p>“Okay, don’t be too long. You need your rest.”</p><p>Julie was still nodding distantly a few seconds after Ray left. She pulled back to herself and turned to the boys. “I’m—I’m gonna go get changed for bed. Wait about ten minutes and then you guys can <em>poof</em> to my room, okay? But not a moment before!”</p><p>“But what about boundaries?” Reggie asked, praying that for once she would forego that idea.</p><p>She smiled. “I think we all need to spend some more time together. You guys have permission to come up to my room.”</p><p>Later, after Julie had changed and gotten ready for bed, promising Carlos that they would talk tomorrow, the band was huddled bonelessly in a puppy pile on Julie’s bed. They were all drinking in the feeling of finally being able to interact with her, and Luke carded his fingers through Julie’s hair. She rubbed little circles on his back.</p><p>This wasn’t the first time Julie had saved them, Luke knew. Her managing to summon them from that dark room, or making them be seen again while playing, or even helping Luke reconnect with his parents a little came to mind.</p><p>No, this wasn’t the first time, not by far, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. live with what you have now and make the best of what’s to come</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Julie helps Reggie</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh my god I am so sorry this is late. I had the chapter all typed up and formatted but I completely forgot, sorry everybody. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! I don’t have dyslexia, so if I in any way misrepresented or came across as ableist, please let me know.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Reggie had never really been good at words. He wanted to be, but they never seemed to read in the order people said they were and people always scoffed at his handwriting (though it wasn’t as bad as Luke’s). Trying to read for long periods of time gave him a headache, so he found himself turning to music early on in his life. At least he could read that properly. He wasn’t dumb, he swore, but the older he got the more that promise to himself seemed hollow. </p><p>He met Luke pretty early on in his elementary school years, and he felt a little bit better because honestly, Luke’s handwriting was worse than his. Luke never talked about him like he was stupid, and had no issues or impatience when it came to Reggie puzzling out what the <em>fuck</em> something said. Also, Luke had his own things, so it made Reggie feel a little less alone. </p><p>Then they died, and Reggie didn’t really have to read much anymore; not for school, at least. There were still signs and stuff, but Reggie was content to ignore those for the most part. Most of them were in a font that made it not look like actual words that would make sense, anyway, so it wasn’t like he was missing much. </p><p>Reggie was okay with focusing on reading music and working with the band, but sometimes he still tried. He did like reading, really. Well, actually, he liked the stories that people could discover through reading, adventures and stuff. So, he didn’t quite like <em>reading</em>, per se, since it gave him a headache, but he did liked discovering new worlds and ideas. </p><p>It was one of those few moments (moments that were actually becoming more frequent) where Julie let the boys hang out in her room for a little bit. Reggie looked around, smiling when he saw Julie sitting up on her bed doing homework, Luke laying next to her. Alex was behind the two of them, spread parallel with the headboard. Reggie bit his lip, looking at the books on Julie’s shelf. She didn’t have many, since she preferred poetry and music, but Reggie picked one that he thought looked interesting and sat down in the chair that he had pulled close to the bed. </p><p>He spent a few minutes with his eyebrows furrowed, the words swimming on the page. Eventually, he let the book fall to the floor and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he looked up, he realized he’d drawn the attention of the other three. </p><p>Luke’s eyes were soft, already knowing what was up. “You good, bro?”</p><p>Reggie shrugged. “I don’t know what I was expecting. It’s not just going to magically work. But I thought maybe…”</p><p>“If you tried hard enough it would be different?” Alex answered, propping himself up with his eyebrows. </p><p>Reggie nodded, shrugging again, his lips twisted. “Yeah.” He looked down. </p><p>Julie looked at the boys in confusion. “What’s wrong?” She broached hesitantly. </p><p>“It’s nothing, just…an issue from when I was alive.”</p><p>Julie furrowed her lips before shrugging. “Okay, but if you want to talk, you know I’m here, right?”</p><p>Reggie nodded. “Yeah, I know.” He smiled at her. </p><p>Julie shrugged before returning to her chemistry work. Luke reached over to point something out and her eyes brightened in a flash of understanding. She exchanged a happy grin with him, and the one Luke gave in response made Reggie snort. The boy had it bad, and now it was just a frustrating waiting game for one of them to admit it to the other. </p><p>With how clueless they both were, though, it would probably take a while. Reggie and Alex looked at each other in exasperation.</p><p>——</p><p>After that day, Reggie would occasionally snatch a book from Julie’s room, taking it to the studio to work on it. He always wound up with a headache, it’s not like he made much progress, and he <em>always</em> wound up decompressing with some bass practice, but he did it anyway. </p><p>Julie walked in on him one day just in time to watch him throw a book at the couch. He was so damn frustrated, but it wouldn’t do to wreck one of Julie’s things just because he was upset. </p><p>She approached him slowly, clearing her throat softly and asking, “You okay, Reg?”</p><p>Reggie nodded, running his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’m good. Just…trying to read.”</p><p>“You have issues reading?” Julie asked. Reggie didn’t hear any judgement in her voice, which caused him to look up in surprise. </p><p>He nodded. “Yeah, have since I can remember. The words just…don’t work right.” He shrugged halfheartedly, looking up at her again.</p><p>Julie’s eyebrows were furrowed. Reggie waited, growing a bit nervous, and jumped when she exclaimed, “Oh!” and ran out of the studio. He watched after her in confusion. Whatever. </p><p>Reggie picked up his bass and started fiddling around with various chord combinations, but it only took a few minutes before Julie came rushing back into the studio, her laptop in her hands. She beckoned him over to the couch even as she sat down on it and set her computer on the coffee table, typing at the keys. </p><p>Reggie put his bass down bemusedly, walking over and plopping next to her. “What’s up?”</p><p>Julie clicked away for another second before angling her laptop so Reggie could see the screen more easily. “I could be wrong,” she started, “but what you’re saying sounds like dyslexia. I don’t know much about it, but it’s a learning disability where people have difficulties with words. From what I’ve read so far, dyslexia can be different depending on the person.”</p><p>“Wait, so I’m not the only one?” Reggie asked, his jaw dropping. </p><p>Further conversation was interrupted by the telltale <em>poof</em> sound of Luke arriving, followed quickly by Alex. Alex sat on the arm of the couch and Luke sat crisscross on the floor, propping his chin up with his elbow on the coffee table. “What’re you two doing?” Luke asked with a curious tilt to his head. </p><p>“Julie says there’s a name for my reading thing,” Reggie said excitedly, bouncing a little where he sat. He had always thought he was alone, that he was just dumb.</p><p>Luke’s eyes brightened. “Really? That’s so cool dude! I’m so happy for you!”</p><p>Alex grinned. “That’s great Reg! What’s it called?”</p><p>“It’s called dyslexia,” Julie said. “It’s a learning disability where people have difficulty processing words the same way non-dyslexic people do, and they can have a hard time just memorizing things straight up. Schools and other places have solutions for it, now, to make it a little easier on the students. Not a cure, but different fonts and stuff.”</p><p>“Wait really?” Alex leaned forward, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. </p><p>Julie nodded. “Yeah, a lot of schools have solutions to help people with learning disabilities now. They’re not perfect, but they help a lot of people, I think. I know audiobooks are probably good too, since they read the book to you and a lot of books nowadays have audiobook versions.”</p><p>“Really?” The more Reggie heard about this, the more excited he got. He fidgeted nervously. “Hey, uh, Julie?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Do you think I could borrow your computer for a bit?” Reggie asked.</p><p>Julie nodded. “Definitely! Have at it. If there’s something you think you could use, let me know and I can see about finding it or figuring out our own versions.” </p><p>Julie left them alone, then, figuring the boys needed some time to themselves. </p><p>Immediately after Julie walked out, Luke threw himself forward into a hug. “Dude!” He didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t need to, really. Reggie already knew. </p><p>Alex joined in, clutching them both tight. “I’m glad you found this, Reg.”</p><p>Reggie laughed. “I’m not alone! I’m not stupid!”</p><p>Luke pulled out of the hug, then, a scolding look on his face that could never achieve the full affect he wanted it too, since he looked too much like a disgruntled puppy when he did it. “Hey! You have never been stupid! Even if you were the only one in the world with this dyslexia thing.”</p><p>Reggie backtracked, trying to stop Luke from going on one of his tangents. He was a really supportive friend, but sometimes they got a little overbearing. “I know, I know, but still!”</p><p>Luke’s eyes softened in understanding. “Yeah, I know.”</p><p>Reggie leaned forward, fully prepared to fall down a research hole with his bandmates. The more he found, the bigger his grin grew. Having a name for this thing he had been dealing with his entire life made it so much better. </p><p>Alex managed to find a website about various learning techniques for people with dyslexia, and even though Reggie wasn’t in school anymore (he was dead, after all), it still made him unbelievably glad that people like him had discovered better ways to learn things.</p><p>Luke managed to find a sciency post about how dyslexia worked, exactly, and how it affected the brain, reading it aloud for Reggie and stumbling a bit over the more scientific terms. Reggie wasn’t a huge biology or neurology person (he preferred geometry), but he still liked listening to it and hearing how many new discoveries had been made. </p><p>They wound down after a few hours; after Reggie felt like he had discovered <em>everything</em> and yet nothing at all, high on excitement. Luke smiled that dopey puppy smile of his again, pulling Reggie and Alex in for a hug and squeezing them tightly. “I’m  glad you found this, Reg,” he murmured into Reggie’s shoulder.</p><p>“Me too,” Reggie murmured back, burrowing his head into Luke’s neck further and holding him and Alex a little harder. </p><p>“Hey,” Alex said, lifting his head up a little. “I bet that Julie would get you some audiobooks if you asked.”</p><p>Reggie’s eyebrows flew up as he realized Alex was right. “Oh my god I can! Are you sure she’ll be okay with it?”</p><p>Luke nodded. “For sure, bro!”</p><p>Reggie’s face split into a grin and he pulled them into a hug again, tugging them down toward the couch into a snuggle pile. </p><p>Julie walked in on them like that a bit later, a soft smile gracing her face. “You guys find anything interesting?”</p><p>Reggie nodded from where he was squished underneath the other two. “We found so much! They know so much more about this than they did and they have ways to help kids and adults with it and it’s so cool!”</p><p>Julie smiled. “I’m glad.”</p><p>Luke sighed when he realized she was just going to stand there, so he stretched over and pulled her down, causing her to fall with a yelp of surprise. “Luke!” She cried. He smirked at her but didn’t say anything. She harrumphed, turning away from him slightly in faux-annoyance.</p><p>“Hey Julie,” Reggie started after a few moments.</p><p>“Yeah, Reggie?”</p><p>“Do you—I mean—would you mind maybe getting me some audiobooks?”</p><p>Reggie could feel her energetic nod from where he was underneath her. “Yeah, definitely dude! What kind of stories do you like?”</p><p>Reggie went on to haltingly highlight some of the story types he found he had enjoyed. Usually he was too busy trying to ignore a headache to fully appreciate the book, but these ones were ones that stuck with him. Julie listened, chiming in every now and again with suggestions for stories similar to the ones Reggie was listing.</p><p>Alex and Luke listened to Reggie and Julie with soft smiles on their faces, sharing happy grins over the head of Julie. They were glad Reggie had been able to find this, and that Julie had told him about it. Seemed she had saved one of them once again, even if it was in a different way than she had after the Orpheum performance. She would probably continue to do it again and again, too. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Let me know what you thought! This one was fun to write, so I hope you all enjoyed it!</p><p>Hope everyone is happy, healthy, and safe! You’re all beautiful people</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. hold your breath, jump with me and we’ll survive</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alex’s turn to be saved</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this is a bit late, I was struggling with finding the title since I kind of dig myself into a hole with using lyrics from an album that I only previously knew two songs for. Anyway, Ily all and you’re wonderful, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reminder to go check out my other JatP stories (I have five), one of which is a multichap. I am also very slowly working on a mermaid au that may or may not be published, we’ll see.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alex was an anxious person. He had anxiety. Everyone who was close to him, and even some of the people he wasn’t, knew this. His anxiety wasn’t necessarily the type where he got panic attacks very often, but he would spiral into possible worse-case scenarios that, yeah, weren’t <em>very</em> likely to happen, but they <em>could</em>, and that was the problem. </p><p>He didn’t get panic attacks often, but he did get them. This was one of those times. </p><p>Alex didn’t know what had set it off, or whether there had been a noticeable trigger, but his chest felt tight and every time he closed his eyes, technicolor flashed behind them. Reggie was hanging out with Ray and Luke had gone who-knows-where (though Alex was pretty sure it wasn’t to his parents this time). </p><p>The world around him was lost, right now, so he didn’t hear the studio doors open or Julie’s concerned voice call his name. He did, however, feel when Julie tentatively put her hand on his shoulder, and he jumped, his eyes darting to her face; her eyebrows were drawn together in concern and Alex had to focus to hear whatever he could see her lips were saying. </p><p>“—you okay?” Julie was asking, rubbing his shoulder with her thumb for a second before removing her hand. Alex was thankful, in a way, because he didn’t think he could deal with much touch right now.</p><p>He shrugged helplessly, not even bothering to try and form words. </p><p>Julie nodded. “Alright. It’s gonna be okay, alright? I need you to tell me five things you can see, okay? Just five things.”</p><p>Alex nodded slowly, looking around the room and trying to ignore the tightness that still pulled painfully at his chest. “Uh….the, uh…the doors?”</p><p>Julie nodded, a smile on her face. “That’s good, only four more. You can do it.”</p><p>“The—the stairs…..my drums—I—” He gulped, finding and listing two more things slowly, but Julie never snapped at him and treated him with endless patience. </p><p>“That’s good, now four things you can feel?”</p><p>Alex was a little more sure, this time, as he listed his shirt, the floor, Julie, who was just barely touching him, and his socks. He could feel himself winding down slowly, as Julie asked for three things he could hear, two that he could taste, and one that he could smell.</p><p>The tightness in his chest was still there, and probably would be for a bit, but he already felt a little less shaky and out of touch with his surroundings. He looked at Julie, offering her a shaky smile. Julie returned it, a little more sure as she sat down next to him. </p><p>“Do you get them often?”</p><p>Alex shook his head, heaving in a breath and taking a second to try and center himself. “Not really. Just—just sometimes.”</p><p>Julie nodded, her lips mushed together in thought. She waited a second, “I used to get them too. After my mom died.”</p><p>Alex gave her a sympathetic look, leaning into her shoulder and recognizing that there wasn’t much to say to that. “I got them more often when I came out, but the guys always helped me with them. I…didn’t think I could get them anymore. Since I’m dead and don’t need to breathe.”</p><p>Julie chuckled a little. “Well, I guess you guys are just special.”</p><p>Alex laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, guess so.”</p><p>Julie looked deep in thought for a second, her face lighting up a moment later in an epiphany. “I know. We’re going to go shopping.”</p><p>Alex raised an eyebrow. “Shopping? For what?”</p><p>“For fun, doofus,” Julie laughed, shoving Alex lightly. “We both need a distraction, and I want a new outfit, so we’re going to go shopping. Meet me outside the house in about ten minutes.” She bounced up and darted out of the studio, leaving Alex looking after her in confusion.</p><p>“Okay…?” </p><p>Alex sat there, grounding himself and repeating what Julie had had him do. Once he felt steady enough, he got up and walked out of the studio. Maybe this shopping trip would do him some good.</p><p>——</p><p>The shopping trip was doing him some good. Julie had her airpods in and had made them look like a bluetooth piece, so she could talk to him without people looking at her weird, even though some still did. </p><p>They mainly spoke about random things, possible sound experiments they wanted to convince Luke to do, but they also talked about other things: boys. Julie was really good about it, and Alex was having a lot of fun talking about Willie. He also had plenty of opportunities to tease Julie about Luke, though. </p><p>“Are you guys actually going to ask each other out or no? I mean, you can <em>touch</em> now. That should make it easier, right?” Alex had his hands in his pockets since he couldn’t carry the bags—they didn’t want people to see floating bags following Julie around.</p><p>Julie shrugged, ducking her head and tucking her hair behind her ear. “I dunno. I mean, he’s still a ghost. And I want to, y’know, but I—I’m scared.”</p><p>Alex nodded, a sympathetic smile flitting across his face. “Yeah, I get it. But, I mean, shouldn’t you use the time you have?”</p><p>“Yeah, I should,” Julie sighed. She held up a top and a jumpsuit. “This one or this one?”</p><p>Alex thought for a second before pointing to the jumpsuit. “That one. You can wear it to our show this week.”</p><p>Julie nodded, looking at the jumpsuit as though picturing the accessories she would wear with it. “Yeah, I agree.” She glanced up at him, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “So, what’s going on with you and Willie?”</p><p>Alex sputtered, his shoulders raising as he tried to duck away. “No—nothing!” He went quiet for a second, his face falling and Julie eyeing him in concern. “I haven’t seen him since the Orpheum.”</p><p>Julie tucked the jumpsuit under her arm and placed a hand on Alex’s bicep. “I can help you look for him.”</p><p>Alex shook his head. “No, you probably have better things to do.”</p><p>“Friends and your happiness are important too, Alex,” Julie scolded. </p><p>Alex smiled sheepishly. “Okay, okay.”</p><p>“Great! Now let’s get this jumpsuit and then, if you’re ready, we can head home.” Julie grinned brightly.</p><p>“Yeah, I’m ready.”</p><p>Fortunately, the line wasn’t very long, so Julie was at the register and purchasing the jumpsuit within a few minutes. Alex smiled, looking on fondly as Julie interacted with the cashier and exchanged pleasantries. </p><p>They walked out of the mall in companionable silence. When they neared the house, Julie stopped briefly and pulled Alex into a hug, muttering in his ear, “We’ll find Willie. I promise.”</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>Alex watched Julie as she walked into the house, a soft smile on his face. In both little and big ways, Julie kept saving them. At this point he had lost count of how many times, but he owed her for not giving him the chance to get caught up in his own thoughts. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you guys enjoyed this one! Alex and Julie have the potential to be really close so I hope we get more development between the two of them. </p><p>Anyway, if you wanna go give me a shout, send me asks or requests (still open) on tumblr:<br/>my main: blerghfish<br/>my jatp sideblog: julie-and-the-phat-ones<br/>my in-character ask blog: askcaleb-themagician</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. ‘cause you are the sun that leads me to the light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Poor Luke....but at least he has Julie</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fourth chapter yay! Anyway, I love you all, hope you like this chapter, only two more to go! LLtD to update on Saturday, see what happens after the chapter we just left on....oop.<br/>Anyway, enjoy everybody and thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luke’s whole life was music. He had it running through his head all the time, a constant background sound. He had a lot going on in his brain, most of it musical. There was always a lot of information running through his head at any point in time. Sometimes it could get a bit…overwhelming.</p><p>Lights would flicker and buzz, air would whistle, traffic would honk. His shirts felt restraining (part of the reason he often wore them with no sleeves and a lower neckline) and the light felt so bright. Everything became so…<em>annoying</em>, grating, and he just wanted it to <em>stop</em>. </p><p>He wasn’t always around the guys, though, by the time things became really painful—overwhelming. Those times were the worst. There was just so <em>much</em>, and it was impossible to filter through all of it. No one was there to ground him and it was easier to get lost in the disorienting imprints of buzzing sounds, scratchy fabric leaving tingles everywhere it touched, and bright lights flashing even when he screwed his eyes shut in pain.</p><p>He hadn’t been this overwhelmed since he had died, actually, so he thought they were over, that he couldn’t get them.</p><p>Guess he was wrong. </p><p>It hurt. A lot. Everything was discombobulated and up from down or right from left was steadily becoming harder to distinguish as every small piece of input fought agonizingly for his attention. Maybe he just needed a change of scenery. That should help, right?</p><p>poofed out of the room, his eyes screwed shut and his lips pressed together as he collapsed to the ground of wherever he had appeared. Hopefully in his old room, if he had aimed right.</p><p>“Luke?” A hesitant voice asked. </p><p>completely missed that jump. He hadn’t gone to his room, he’d gone to Julie’s. The one room that she had forbidden all of them to go into. He had fucked up.</p><p>Luke’s breath hitched and he looked at Julie through painfully narrowed eyes. The light was still so much, but he didn’t want Julie to think he was ignoring her. “Hey, Jules,” he croaked out, internally wincing at the sound of his voice. </p><p>“You okay?”</p><p>Luke shook his head. All the sounds were so painful, and Julie’s voice wasn’t really an exception. It was bearable, but still made his brain rush with too much information at once. “Hurts,” was all he offered weakly. </p><p>Julie nodded, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. She didn’t know <em>what</em> hurt, exactly, but she could piece together that it might be the light, judging by the way he seemed to have his eyes not even halfway open and noticeably tried to avoid the spots in her room where the dying light shone through.</p><p>“Alright,” she said, standing up from the bed. “Don’t move, we’ll see if we can fix this.” She went quiet after that, noticing his minute wince whenever she spoke. Julie stood up carefully, striding over to her blinds and closing them, turning off her lamp as well. </p><p>The almost complete riddance of natural light, as well as artificial, made the creases in Luke’s forehead relax some. Her room was dimly lit by the steadily setting sun. Next thing was to turn off her ceiling fan, ridding the room of the noise caused by steadily circulating air. She smiled at Luke, walking over to him slowly, cautiously, and sitting down beside him. She made sure she was close enough that he knew she was there, but tried not to crowd him too much. </p><p>He looked up at her, smiling weakly before returning his head to laying on top of his knees. Julie cautiously put her hand on Luke’s head and carded her fingers through his hair. She could feel the tension melt a bit as he relaxed into her. </p><p>“Do you wanna lie down?” Julie muttered softly. She was careful to keep her voice quiet, to the point that it almost wasn’t there. </p><p>Luke nodded gently, wincing as the pounding that had been building in his head increased with a vengeance. Julie’s touch was light as she helped him ease onto the bed and lay down on his side. She laid behind him, wrapping her arms around Luke and holding him close, asking gently if it was okay. </p><p>Luke squeezed her hands as affirmation, electing not to say anything. </p><p>——</p><p>Alex and Reggie poofed in at almost the same time, both opening their mouths to say something when they saw Julie laying on the bed. She rolled over with a scolding look, putting a shushing hand to her mouth. </p><p>Their faces both flashed with understanding as they nodded seriously. Alex looked around for a notebook and pen, finding one tossed haphazardly onto Julie’s chair. He picked it up and scrawled quickly in large letters,<em> ‘How long?’ </em>He passed the notebook to her after that, and she tried to be as careful as possible to minimize the sound the pen made as it scratched against the crinkling paper. </p><p>
  <em>‘Idk, but he’s been here for a few hours at least’</em>
</p><p>It didn’t take more than a single look exchanged between the two boys for them to agree to sit in the chair (or on the floor, in Reggie’s case) to wait for Luke and not disturb him. These had happened when he was alive, occasionally while he was with the band, so they had learned what to do in the even that they happened. Luke’s usually lasted a couple hours to an entire day (and, on one horribly memorable occasion, two and a half days), so this one was probably nearing its end. </p><p>Eventually they all fell asleep, and when Julie woke up she realized with a flush that she had pulled Luke closer to her in her sleep. She moved slowly, trying not to wake him, but he let out a low whine in the back of his throat and pulled her arm closer to him. Julie sighed, rolling her eyes fondly and staring at the wall. She could stay like this for a little bit longer, if it made him more comfortable. Her eyes slipped closed of their own accord and she couldn’t find the care to open them again. </p><p>Luke woke up later, his head pulsing and his mouth dry, but that didn’t matter. The light coming from behind and above them through the windows lit up Julie’s hair, framing the stray curls. He smiled, reaching over carefully and pushing a few strands out of her face. Her nose scrunched and then smoothed, and Luke smirked. He winced when he heard the snickers coming from behind him, rolling over slightly to see Alex and Reggie’s raised eyebrows. Julie let out a small breath of blissful ignorance and Luke stuck his tongue out at the two. </p><p>Reggie shrugged and smirked, mouthing, “Ooze.” </p><p>Alex shuddered, shaking his head. </p><p>Luke made a shooing motion with his hands, and the two laughed again before disappearing with a poof. He rolled over and curled up again, smiling when Julie sighed and her eyes cracked open. </p><p>“Feeling better?” She asked softly, her eyebrows crinkling in leftover concern. </p><p>Luke nodded, swallowing to try and fix his cotton mouth. “Yeah,” he croaked out. “Thank you,” he said quietly, squeezing her hand significantly. </p><p>Julie shook her head. “Of course, it was never a question.” She paused, considering what she was about to say. “Alex and Reggie said you used to get those when you were alive?”</p><p>Luke nodded, grimacing. “Yeah, it was just—sometimes things all got <em>too much</em>, y’know? My parents were usually pretty understanding, which was nice I guess. First one I had around the band was a disaster, though,” he winced and laughed slightly. </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Yeah, happened right in the middle of rehearsal. I got really lightheaded and ran into Reg, wiped us both out and the world just…whited out.”</p><p>Julie’s face scrunched in sympathy as she rubbed her thumb up and down his shoulder. He leaned into the touch. </p><p>“I woke up and Reg had a giant bruise on his shoulder and the amp cord has been pulled out.” Luke grimaced. “Felt horrible.”</p><p>“It wasn’t your fault though,” Julie pointed out, nudging him. </p><p>Luke nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Reggie made sure to remind me. Didn’t change how I felt about it though. The boys quickly figured out what the signs were before it got real bad, and I usually want alone when they happened so we figured out how to work through them.”</p><p>“If you and the guys want to we can watch movies?” She looked out the window, where the sky had darkened to a deep grey and the rain was swiftly picking up to <em>pitter patter</em> against her window. “Since it looks like we won’t be doing much else today.”</p><p>Luke nodded, making to <em>poof</em> and go get them. Julie gently pushed him back down. </p><p>“You relax, I’ll go get the guys.”</p><p>Luke pouted but didn’t argue, his body still to exhausted to put up much of a fight. She left for a few minutes, closing the door quietly, and returned a few moments later with Alex and Reggie in tow. </p><p>“You feeling better?” Reggie asked softly. </p><p>Luke smiled and nodded, giving a thumbs up and flopping backward on the bed. Alex chuckled, laying down next to him. Reggie laid himself across their legs and Julie laid on Luke’s other side, snatching her laptop from the bedside table and opening up Netflix. They all read through the titles as she scrolled. </p><p>“What’s Trollhunters?” Luke asked, pointing at the one that had caught his attention. </p><p>Julie laughed. “That one’s really good, even if it is a kids show. It’s one show in a series.”</p><p>“Let’s try it.” Alex shrugged. </p><p>Julie nodded, clicking on it and laying back as the opening scene played. </p><p>Later, after going down a research black hole, Julie would come to Luke with the information that what he had were called sensory overloads. She took him through different informational websites and asked him and the other two what the best ways to help were that they had come across. She also suggested some of their own, and within a few hours they had a workable plan for whenever they happened, and Luke let go of the residual tension he’d had since his episode earlier. They stayed up until the wee hours of morning binging tv, laughing at jokes and mocking anything that made them cringe (<em>Twilight</em>. Julie made them watch all of the <em>Twilight</em> saga and holy cow how could someone fit that much teen angst and cringe in one movie, let alone five?). Luke’s headache was gone by the next morning, replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling of contentment. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, kudos, comment, send a positive thought my way, all are appreciated! You can also yell at me on tumblr, I love talking to people and if you engage in conversation to just get to know me, make a friend, idk, I love meeting new people coz I’m a lonely soul lol. </p><p>The Twilight thing at the end may or may not be because my mom is forcing me to watch all of the twilight movies (only one more left!) and oh my god how tf was that published? That’s like the amalgamation of all angsty emo boy teen romance fanfic tropes mushed together using two people with basically a whiteboard personality (no offense to the actors, i know they worked with what they were given) and wow. Makes me feel better about my own crappy teen writing. </p><p>My main: blerghfish<br/>my jatp sideblog: julie-and-the-phat-ones<br/>my in-character ask blog: askcaleb-themagician</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. find out what’s there, what you can be</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Julie helps all of them in little ways</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is more humorous, and the ending is a bit more of the boys helping Julie even though her chapter isn’t ‘til next chapter, technically, but that’s where the scene went so oh well. </p><p>Anyway, I’m having bad days and school sucks, but I hope y’all enjoyed this (pssst comments light my day). Last chapter is next week! So. Hope you’re all looking forward to that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were coming back to life. </p><p>The boys, that was. </p><p>It was in little hints. Reggie occasionally ran into doors and poles, Luke and Flynn would bump into each other. </p><p>The funniest occasion was something eerily similar to when Luke was attempting to convince Julie to perform her way back into the music program. He sat on the counter that held the sink, his feet swinging in the air juvenilely as Julie put together breakfast for herself. </p><p>“I’m tellin’ you that you might wanna tell your dad,” Luke shrugged. </p><p>Julie sighed. “Yeah, I know.” She opened the door, blocking Luke’s face from view as she reached up to pull out a box of cheerios. </p><p>“Juliiiieeeee,” Luke whined. Julie could see him tilt forward out the corner of her eye. “Come—” </p><p>
  <em>Thud.</em>
</p><p>Julie almost dropped the box of cheerios in shock. She took a second to recover, closing the cabinet and catching sight of Luke’s bewildered face as he rubbed his nose with a pout, his eyes watering reflexively. Julie’s chin trembled for a second before she couldn’t anymore and burst into laughter. Luke cast a woeful look at her, his lips tilted downward. </p><p>“Did—did you just ram your face into the cabinet?” Julie managed to choke out. </p><p>“…..No.”</p><p>Julie chuckled, wiping her eyes and trying to stop herself from laughing so the stitch in her side wouldn’t get any worse. </p><p>Luke sniffled. He glared at Julie and rubbed his nose. “Rude. Anyway,” he jumped off of one counter to jump up on the island instead, grinning at Julie when she let out a put upon sigh. “You should tell your dad. We’re all….changing. It’s only a matter of time before he walks in on Reggie sticking his face in the fridge or something!” Luke threw up his hands.</p><p>Julie shook her head and sighed, pouring the milk into her cereal. “Yeah. I know, I know.”</p><p>It said something about Julie’s life that she didn’t even flinch when Reggie poofed into the room. She nodded slightly in greeting and returned to eating her cereal. </p><p>“What’s up?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Julie said firmly, giving a stern look to the two. </p><p>Reggie shrugged. He stuck his head into the fridge and grabbed a cheese stick. Julie raised an eyebrow. Reggie sighed. “I’m hungry. I thought ghosts weren’t supposed to get hungry!”</p><p>Julie shrugged. “And Luke slammed his head into a cabinet instead of passing through it, so maybe you aren’t normal ghosts anymore?”</p><p>“C’mon Julie, since when have we been normal ghosts?” Julie did jump this time. She hadn’t been expecting Alex’s voice behind her. </p><p>She seesawed a hand and shrugged. “Yeah, you have a point.”</p><p>“And you don’t have to bring up the cabinet thing! It never happened,” Luke insisted, pinning her with his puppy eyes.</p><p>——</p><p>Further proof of the boys coming back to life was when Reggie had missed his landing location and instead <em>poof</em>ed into Julie’s room, his eyes half-lidded as he fell onto her bed with a snore. Luke and Alex appeared a few moments later. Julie had been organizing her jewelry and going through her mom’s things, something that helped her calm her nerves. Her hair was pulled into a lazy ponytail and she had on a shirt she had stolen from Luke. </p><p>“Is he okay?” She asked. </p><p>Alex looked over at Luke, smirking at the red flush to his face and turning back to Julie. “He’s fine, just exhausted.”</p><p>“Usually you guys don’t get tired unless there’s something else going on…” Julie bit her bottom lip worriedly. </p><p>She wasn’t wrong, though. Aside from Luke’s day long nap after his sensory overload, the only other time the boys had been as tired as Reggie was now was after the Orpheum. They had spent the entire next day curled up on the studio couch and then Julie’s bed (when she had given the okay to be in her room). </p><p>Luke shook his head, both to bring himself out of his stupor and to reassure Julie. “Nah, he’s fine! We just did a lot today.”</p><p>Reggie looked up blearily. “You teased me. So rude,” he mumbled into the bed. “I’m trying to sleep. Shoo.” Reggie waved a hand, and Julie, Alex, and Luke looked at each other with mirth. </p><p>Julie sighed, putting the rest of her things away and beckoning the boys out of her room. She could let Reggie nap for a little while longer. </p><p>——</p><p>It wasn’t just lending her bed to them for the increasingly often times they became tired. It was when she and Flynn were out with the three of them and she had to reach over and pull Luke out of the way of a person. It was hit or miss whether or not the boys passed through them, nowadays, and it was best not to take any chances when able. </p><p>In companionship with becoming solid at random, it made it difficult for the boys to figure out exactly when they had to consciously think about becoming solid. Which meant there were equally as many opportunities for them to pass through things they didn’t mean to as there were to not pass through things they did mean to. </p><p>Like doors. &lt;(p&gt;
</p>
<p>Luke found himself hating doors in particular. He passed through walls fine, through poles perfectly (which couldn’t be said for Reggie…who had walked into a total of five walls and two poles since this whole thing had started), but <em>doors</em> man. A dangerous enemy to klutzes that were alive, but deadly (heh) to those that were…not. </p><p>Luke would pass through doors cautiously, becoming complacent when it worked. Then he would run smack into a door. </p><p>Julie, whenever she was around, began opening the doors for him, or grabbing him by the shirt collar and giving him the Look™. </p><p>Julie also found herself looking into breathing exercises for Alex. Turned out he had had asthma while he was alive previously, and now he sometimes found himself out of breath. It wasn’t very often, but it was often enough that Julie figured better safe than sorry. </p><p>——</p><p>With this new…half life thing, they found themselves needing certain things they hadn’t before. Like food. Lots of food.</p><p>They were, after all, growing teenage boys that hadn’t eaten for twenty five years. </p><p>Julie had to sneak them food to eat. She absolutely refused to be party to Luke’s ridiculous concoctions (she could get behind a brownie in a peanut butter sandwich, but only because that was a classic combination of chocolate peanut butter). She would have thought Reggie would be the one that would eat things like that, but she also wasn’t surprised it was Luke.</p><p>If her dad noticed food randomly going missing, he didn’t say anything. He did, after all, have two growing children. One of which was an athlete. As long as they were being healthy, it didn’t really matter.</p><p>Julie’s one rule about when she brought them food, though, was that they <em>could not</em> eat it in her room. The last thing she needed was an infestation of ants, thank you very much. A ghost infestation was enough for now. </p><p>They forgot to eat, sometimes. They had become used to being unable to, and occasionally they still were. That combination lended itself to eating slipping their minds. Julie made sure to either bring snacks or send the boys to get them during writing or hang out sessions, making sure they stayed fed (as much as needed) and hydrated (“C’mon guys! Hydrate. Don’t <em>die</em>drate.”)</p><p>The boys remembered sometimes, though, and on the days Ray wasn’t planned to be home for a while, Luke would make her his famous snickerdoodles. </p><p>——</p><p>“Are we going to tell your dad?” Reggie asked. He had just failed to catch a bottle of water, the container slipping quite literally through his fingers and falling to the floor. </p><p>Julie pinned him with an exasperated gaze. She flopped on the studio couch, her arms going up into the air. “I don’t know. I know I need to but…”</p><p>“It’s different than actually doing it,” Alex finished sympathetically. </p><p>Julie nodded miserably. Luke flopped down onto the couch next to her, looking over reassuringly. “It’ll be okay, whatever you decide.”</p><p>“I just…you guys are coming back to life and—and that’s great, don’t get me wrong!—but there’s all these things that I just thought about like where will you live and where are you gonna get your papers and where are you going to go to school without those papers and what if people recognize you or something!” Julie finished by taking in a loud gulp of air, sagging against the couch tiredly. </p><p>“Hey, hey,” Luke placed his hands over hers, looking at the boys before looking back into her deep eyes. “One step at a time, yeah? We tell your dad first and <em>then</em> we figure out all the other stuff. Right boys?”</p><p>Alex nodded, sitting criss cross on the floor. “Yeah. Just like when you helped me with my anxiety. One thing at a time, we figure everything else out later. Otherwise you’re just going to get overwhelmed.”</p><p>Reggie nodded, beaming at her, his grin widening when she smiled and nodded back. “Yeah! Besides, I don’t think I need to tell you this but you have a pretty great dad and he’ll help you out no matter what.”</p><p>He went to sit down on the coffee table, but Julie reached over and pulled him onto the couch with her when she noticed he was about to fall straight through the table. Luke laughed, tossing his head back slightly, and Reggie pouted and shoved at him.</p><p>Luke exchanged a smirk with the boys. “I think I can do that. Right boys?”</p><p>Alex shook his head, but smiled. “No one better.”</p><p>“You’re not that—ohhhh. Yeah, yeah we can do that!” Reggie nodded, bouncing a little, and Julie settled back in with a sigh. They could finish what they were doing later. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My favorite moment was <em>Thud.</em> and I was cackling when I wrote it because it was so much fun. What was yours? Anyway, check out prior chapters for my tumblr usernames, and go interact! Yell at me! Give me hcs! Ask me about mine! Or to come up with them (I got one asking about ace jatp hcs and I got 🥺).</p><p>You’re all wonderful, beautiful people, never forget it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. like the ocean pulls the tide in just to hold it close</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys all help Julie. </p><p>TW: non-explicit period and mention of cramps</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oki doke first thing is make sure you pay attention to the trigger warning in the summary! This one is the boys helping Julie with cramps. </p><p>The last chapter. Sad. This was an amazing journey and I loved all of the support you all gave me, and it made my day every time I received it. I’m sorry to see this complete, but in a bittersweet way. Thank you all for making this journey so rewarding, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.</p><p>Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one! I wrote it all in one sitting so don’t come at me.</p><p>Edit: I went through and fixed a few things, so you might want to reread, you might not.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Julie’s cycles usually weren’t that bad. She got them around the same day each month, typically had approximately thirty days between them, and usually she only had to deal with hormones. She had gotten better at recognizing when her actions were hormone driven and she needed to take a step back, over the years.</p><p>There was one issue, though.</p><p>
  <em>Cramps.</em>
</p><p>Unlike her mother, she didn’t really get bad ones the entire duration of “shark week”. It was just the first day that they were <em>really</em> bad. Basically like her body was saying, “Oh! We’re doing this! It’s the time of the month to <em>suffer</em> so the rest of your body knows what’s happening!” or something like that. Usually it started as a small stomachache, but soon enough it evolved into something that not even a combination of Tylenol and ibuprofen could take care of.</p><p>She mad herself suffer through school, though. The exercise from dance class helped a little bit, but ultimately not as much as she needed. She texted her dad and asked him to pick her up, letting him know what was happening. He responded with a thumbs up and said that he would be there in a few minutes. Flynn was heading home with her own parents to help with holiday preparations.</p><p>Julie curled up on a step and messed around on her phone as a distraction while she waited for her dad. The car tires squealed as he pulled up to the curb, and she forced herself up and into the passenger seat. Her dad looked at her sympathetically and wordlessly passed her a Hershey’s bar, which she accepted with a grateful smile. He turned back to the road and pulled out.</p><p>“Let me know if you need anything else, <em>mija</em>,” Ray said as they got out of the car. She flashed a thumbs up and made her way into the house.</p><p>Julie made a brief pit stop at the closet to grab the heating pad and then made a slumped beeline for her bedroom. She plugged the heating pad in and laid on top of it on her back, settling in with a sigh and opening up her phone.</p><p><b>Flynn:</b> <em>how r u you doing bb</em></p><p><b>Julie:</b> <em>meh, but I have a heating pad so</em> 🤷🏽♀</p><p><b>Flynn:</b> <em>hang in there</em></p><p><b>Julie:</b> <em>yep</em></p><p>Julie groaned and attempted to sink further into her mattress. Maybe if she sank far enough, the pressure would envelop her and this would be over. It didn’t happen, though, even as she grumbled about the mattresses betrayal. It was supposed to support her, dammit. That’s what beds <em>did</em>.</p><p>Julie was so caught up in cursing her bed, that she failed to notice the three ghost boys that had <em>poof</em>ed into her room, concerned because she had missed band practice.</p><p>“Julie?” Luke ventured hesitantly.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Reggie asked, his voice laced with worry.</p><p>Julie yelped and jumped, her phone flying into the air only to fall down on her nose. She slammed her head back into her pillow and groaned. Loudly. Alex winced as she leveled a glare at them.&lt; 0:</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>Julie sighed, waving a hand. “It’s fine, everything’s fine. I’m just on my cycle.” She winced and rubbed her nose, scrunching and relaxing it a few times before deciding to ignore the discomfort as best she could.</p><p>Falling iPhones <em>hurt</em> though. Especially when your nose was the victim.</p><p>“Your cycle?” Reggie cocked his head. Luke and Alex both pinned him with looks.</p><p>“<em>Dude</em>. Her period?” Luke said, the <em>duh</em> clear in his voice.</p><p>“Ohhhh. Whoops, yeah.” Reggie laughed sheepishly and fiddled with his flannel.</p><p>“It’s fine.” Julie would admit, she hadn’t necessarily expected boys from the ‘90s to know or seem so chill with what she was talking about. Then again, the boys weren’t necessarily the most macho out there, so she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. It also struck her then that Alex had told her he had a sister. Depending on how old she was when he…died…he may have had to help her with her own.</p><p>Luke clicked his tongue sympathetically. “Cramps?”</p><p>Julie raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Yeah. I always get really bad ones on the first day.”</p><p>Luke nodded. He seemed to think about something for a second, looking down in avoidance and fidgeting his feet. Julie could tell from Alex and Reggie’s expressions that they knew what Luke was thinking, but she figured he would tell her if she needed to know. Luke looked up, eventually, and cleared his throat. “I…know something to help, if you’re okay with it?”</p><p>Julie’s mouth dropped, but she quickly closed it again. “Is there some magical remedy I don’t know about? Because the meds and a heating pad aren’t quite doing it for me.”</p><p>Luke smirked and nodded. “Family thing, my mom showed me.”</p><p>“Do your magic, mister,” Julie demanded dramatically, falling against the bed and closing her eyes, peaking one open when she failed to hear movement.</p><p>Luke’s cheeks were tinged with color, something that had been happening as the boys neared closer to life. “It—uh—you kinda need to get on your stomach?”</p><p>Julie raised an eyebrow, hedging, “What exactly is this magic you’re thinking of, Luke?”</p><p>Luke gulped, fiddling his fingers and looking anywhere other than her. “It—uh. It’s kind of like a readjustment of your hips, I guess? You get on your stomach and I would kinda…shake them?” Luke’s voice pitched slightly high on the last two words. He glared at Alex and Reggie, who were openly laughing at him.</p><p>Julie’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She was glad she didn’t really flush in these cases. She spared a brief moment of though about what he was saying would entail before deciding screw it…in the metaphorical sense. She was in too much pain to care about this right now, honestly. “Do it.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>Julie nodded. “Yep. I’m in too much pain to care about anything else. Work your magic, sir.”</p><p>Luke shrugged. “Okay.”</p><p>Alex bumped Reggie’s upper bicep with his fist and they both sat down, looking away. It felt a little awkward to look, even though it wasn’t anything innapropriate.</p><p>Julie winced and rolled over onto her stomach, groaning at the renewed pain that seemed to clench her lower back and stomach. She could feel the bed lower and creak hesitantly as Luke moved slowly. His legs were on either side of hers, and he grabbed the outer area of her hips and—shook them? This was certainly weird. Not what she had been expecting, but in a way she wasn’t surprised.</p><p>Luke massaged her lower back before returning to the hip shaking. After a few moments he moved off, and she rolled over with a groan that quickly cut off in surprise.</p><p>“That actually worked. What the heck.”</p><p>Luke shrugged sheepishly. “My—my mom showed it to me. It was a lot of help, so I figured I could do it for you. I wasn’t sure if I did it right, though, so I’m glad it worked!”</p><p>Julie was still gobsmacked, but eventually she cleared her throat and focused on anything other than what had just happened. She would have to remember that hip thing, though, since it was apparently sorcery of unnatural proportions. She waved her hand in beckoning. “Come give me cuddles.”</p><p>Now, usually she wasn’t so upfront about that kind of thing. But she really liked hugs, okay? And she just wanted to cuddle with her boys and forget about the existence of her uterus, just for a little bit. That was feasible, right?</p><p>Reggie laughed but climbed onto her bed obediently, the other two quickly following and making themselves comfortable, even though they didn’t get under the covers. Julie reached over to turn the heating pad off and push it off her bed until she could pick it up later. For right now, though, she didn’t feel like moving that much.</p><p>Luke wrapped an arm around her, and she relaxed with a contented sigh, the last of the tenseness from the pain leaving her body. Alex and Reggie also snuggled up to her in other ways, and she let the quiet sound of their breathing (another thing they found they needed to do now) lull her to sleep.</p><p>When she woke up again, it was dark out and her phone was lit up with a text from her dad saying that he had left dinner in the fridge for her to heat up if needed. Next to her phone was a pile of various chocolates that hadn’t been there when she had fallen asleep, but when she turned to look at the boys they hadn’t moved…much.</p><p>She yawned, opening up her phone sluggishly and telling her dad that she would have dinner later, thanks. She looked back at the boys with a smile, ignoring the slight amount of sweat that had built up during her nap—something that always seemed to happen when she took naps—and settling back in. Alex twitched and Reggie moved into a different position. Luke moved slowly to accommodate for the new positions before settling back in with a contented sigh.</p><p>Julie reached over to grab two more Tylenol to head of the cramps she could feel reappearing and then rolled over, closing her eyes with a soft smile as she ran her hands through the hair of the closest head she could find—Luke’s. She would track down the person that had gotten her chocolates later.</p><p>(It was Reggie. And Alex had restocked their pads, which she had forgotten they were running low on.)</p><p>(Her dad had noticed, though, so now she would have plenty for a while.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay so the hip thing. My mom does that for me and it works friggin miracles. Anyway, that wasn’t meant to be sexual in any way shape or form because it’s <em>not</em>. It was a little awkward because they like each other, yeah, but it was mainly just Luke trying to help Julie when she was hurting and I wrote it awkward on purpose. </p><p>Also, it was meant to imply that Luke was trans. I didn’t have him come out and tell Julie like a wanted to because I feel like that’s a separate fic (that I don’t know if I’m suited to write) of him learning to trust her with something like that. I’m a demigal, not trans, so if I offended anyone please let me know. </p><p>Anyway, go shout at me on one of my tumblrs! My usernames are in the notes from prior chapters. Thank you for reading everybody!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments, kudos, checking out my tumblr is all very much appreciated! I thrive on validation, so taking a second to give me some is very much appreciated and I may or may not go through all of them when I’m having a bad day, which always lifts my sprits.</p><p>Anyway, I love all of you wonderful, supportive people and I wish you all the best!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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